


across the continents

by perfectlyrose



Series: a young mountain and a strange girl [6]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: (abuse not explicit...just mentioned), Abuse, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M, Ficlet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-03
Updated: 2016-06-03
Packaged: 2018-07-11 22:57:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7073989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/perfectlyrose/pseuds/perfectlyrose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>John gets another phone call and tries out being a knight in a battered blue car.</p>
            </blockquote>





	across the continents

**Author's Note:**

> And I'm back with another installment! This one follows on directly from "i'll be your confidante" and is the longest in the series thus far.
> 
> This one's also a bit heavy. Mentions of abuse again and I went ahead and bumped this one up to a teen rating to be safe. No explicit descriptions of abuse or anything but... it's a theme so feel free to skip this installment if that's something you prefer to avoid. Things should be lighter from here on out and I'll make sure that you won't be lost if you skip this.

It was days before John finally got a chance to talk to Rose properly again. He’d shot off a few texts and tried to call twice but she’d always just texted back that she was fine, just busy, she’d call when she had a chance.

He had a feeling she was embarrassed about impulsively calling him the other night but none of it sat right with John. Not with how fragile she’d sounded when they had talked. It wasn’t like her at all. He’d known for a while that she wasn’t as strong as she always tried to seem, but something must have happened to punch a hole in her facade that night. 

There was nothing he could do right then but keep trying to reach her though, keep letting her know that he was there when she was ready to talk again.

In the meantime, it was Christmas and he and his aunt had their annual turkey to burn whether Rose answered his calls or not.

(He kept his phone in his pocket all day though, ignoring the not-so-subtle glances his aunt sent him whenever he checked it.)

John had just climbed in bed and was reaching over to turn out his lamp when his mobile started buzzing on the nightstand. He scrambled for it and answered the call without even looking to see who was calling.

“Rose?”

The line was silent except for a small hitch of breath.

“Rose, are you okay?”

“This was a stupid idea,” she said finally, voice shaking. “Just pretend I never called.”

“Not gonna happen,” John said firmly. “And if you hang up I’m just going to call back.”

“Stubborn.”

“Got me in one.”

She sniffled and John sat up straight on the side of his bed, focus completely on the girl on the other end of the phone line. “You didn’t answer me. Are you okay?”

There was a slight pause before she spoke again. “Did you mean it when you said you’d come get me if I asked?”

“Yes.”

“Come get me, Doctor. I can’t stay here any longer.”

“I’m on my way. Are you going to be alright until I get there?” he asked, tossing a pair of jeans on the bed and rustling through his drawer for a jumper. 

“Yeah, everyone’s asleep now.”

“I’ll be there in four hours.”

“Thank you, Doctor,” she said softly.

“Anytime, Rose.” He just hoped that she could hear his sincerity.

The line went dead and John finished getting dressed before grabbing his keys and walking out of his room.

“Aunt Sarah?” he called out, hoping that she was still awake.

“Yes?” His aunt walked out of the kitchen, cuppa in hand. She took one look at him and cut him off before he could begin explaining. “It’s Rose, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. I don’t really know what happened but she asked me to come get her.”

“And she’s down in London?”

“Yeah. It’s only four hours, I’ll be fine and-”

“John, slow down. I know you’re going to get her and you’ll be fine. I’m certainly not going to try to stop you. I was just confirming so I can book the two of you a hotel room outside of the city. I don’t want you driving back here half asleep.”

John deflated, the whole speech had had prepared on the fly as to why she should let him go just dissipating and leaving him at loose ends.

“Oh come here,” his aunt said, pulling him into a hug. “Go get your girl. And tell her that we’ll be making those sweets I owe her together.”

“Thank you,” he said, voice gruff as he let himself be comforted.

“Now get out of here, you have someone waiting on you.”

John didn’t waste any time. He grabbed his leather jacket on the way out the door and practically ran down to his car.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The world was eerily quiet as John pulled up at the address Rose had given him. It was a nice house in a well-to-do neighborhood and he felt extremely out of place in his battered car and equally battered leather jacket.

He pulled out his phone and texted Rose that he was here. They’d talked a few times while he was driving to firm up their plans and to just pass the time. She still hadn’t told him what had happened but that worry was secondary to the fact that she wasn’t already outside.

John drummed his fingers on the steering wheel for a few seconds before getting out of the car and starting up the sidewalk, already composing another text to Rose.

“Doctor, I’m here.”

John whipped around as Rose’s hushed voice reached him. She was walking towards him from a side door, dragging her suitcase behind her.

“Let me get that.” He grabbed for the handle of bag and grunted at the weight. “You pack the entire country in here?”

“Just everything I could find and lay a claim to in the house. I’m never coming back here again.”

John tried to get a look at her face to gauge her mood but she had her hood pulled up and her face was in shadow. Her fists were clenched though.

He reached out and took one in his hand, a silent offer of support. When she uncurled her fingers to lace them with his, he saw that her nails were chewed to the quick and completely free of nail polish, something he’d never seen before.

They were as silent as the night around them as they walked to John’s car and loaded her luggage in.

“Are they going to launch a search for you in the morning?” he asked after closing the trunk.

“Left a note on the dining room table. I doubt they’ll care much,” she said with a shrug. “Plus I’m eighteen, they can’t really do anything.”

He wanted to ask why she’d gone back in the first place but he thought he knew the answer and there was a shooting pain in his heart at the thought that she didn’t  _ know _ that she always had a place with him if she asked.

They settled into their seats in the car and as John turned the key in the ignition, Rose pulled back her hood, letting him see her face for the first time.

She looked tired and worn and hadn’t even attempted to hide it with makeup but what drew his eyes even more than the obvious signs of sleeplessness and the fact that he hadn’t seen her in a couple weeks was the large purple bruise along her right cheekbone.

“Rose.” His voice was hoarse and quiet as he reached out to gently cup her face with one hand, avoiding the bruise.

“It’s nothing John. My guardian’s new wife doesn’t like me much and let me know it.”

“It’s not nothing.”

“It is. Let’s just get going. I’ll text your aunt so she knows that I’m with you.”

John had a death grip on the steering wheel as he pulled out into the street. It wasn’t easy for him to hold his tongue and to not turn around and go wake up everyone in that house to tell them how massively they’d fucked up and ask how the hell they couldn’t see how special Rose was.

The look on her face was the only thing that stopped him. She was more vulnerable that he had ever seen her, eyes wide and pleading, teeth digging into her lower lip.

Rose took a deep breath and then leaned over and pulled John’s phone out of his pocket to text his aunt before setting it down in the drink holder. 

They were quiet as the houses went flying by. When Rose reached out a hand and rested in on John’s thigh, everything about him relaxed. He took one hand from the wheel and placed it on hers.

There was time to talk about everything later. All that mattered now was that they were together and she was safe. 

She was okay.  _ They _ were okay.

He was going to make sure that they stayed that way.


End file.
